STAYING FOCUSED:
Kevin Kernan says after a rough couple of weeks in the Jets' world, Rex Ryan seems completely focused on the task at hand -- getting Gang Green back to the playoffs. Photo: Jeff Zelevansky

Rex Ryan stood at the podium yesterday and smiled. His Week of the Feet was coming to a close. Now it’s up to the Jets to accomplish the feat of making it to the playoffs for the second time in as many seasons under Ryan.

Ryan is not as boastful as he was three weeks ago before the New England massacre, and all the craziness of the last two weeks — The Trip and The Feet — seem to have made him much more humble. Brash Rex, who was threatening to become a caricature of himself, has been replaced by the guy who says he is just trying to go out there and do the best he can so his team can win.

In the end, Ryan and the Jets will be much better off because of what has happened.

Ryan has done what he came here to do. No, he hasn’t won that sought-after Super Bowl yet, but he has made the Jets one of the greatest shows on earth. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the Jets have become the Back Page Jets and sometimes the Front Page, too.

No wonder owner Woody Johnson gave Ryan a ringing endorsement on Thursday. In the harsh world of the NFL, a team is only a laughing stock when it does not win. If the team wins, no matter what’s going on around it, it’s a colorful team. Right now, the Jets are colorful. Win and they are in again.

It started to roll with HBO’s “Hard Knocks” and an incredible average of 4.6 million viewers a week. Just imagine if they did Jets “Hard Knocks” II next year.

Asked what it would mean to earn a second straight trip to the playoffs tomorrow, in Chicago, at Soldier Field, where his dad Buddy forged his defensive football legacy, Ryan said: “Maybe not now, but maybe after. It’s one of those things where I’ve got a lot of friends who are going to be there, you know, from high school, and all that kind of stuff.

“And it will be special for me to be standing on that sideline where I was a ballboy for a ton of years and all that kind of stuff. That’s pretty amazing. Now I’m a head football coach, that’s pretty amazing.”

Yes, considering everything, it is pretty amazing.

The bottom line is that these players still have their coach’s back. The Jets came up big for Ryan in Pittsburgh after his Saturday night speech and they need to come up big for him again tomorrow in Chicago for several reasons.

First of all, if the Jets lose, all those who believe in distractions will be storming the gate, saying the foot-fetish news sent the Jets spiraling out of control. Walking through the locker room this week, player after player said off-field distractions do not affect this team. They fight through it. It’s time to go out and prove it.

Asked what this week has been like, how he puts it all in perspective, Ryan took the football view, saying: “I’ll feel better . . . let’s just talk after Sunday, because that’s where the focus is. The focus is on the Bears. You’re facing a team that has already made the playoffs, a team that is really rolling right now, playing in Chicago — a tough place to play. Hey, we’re trying to get into the playoffs and we can take care of it ourselves with a victory. And we know we’re going to have to play a heck of a football game to get that accomplished.”

Yes, they are. Mark Sanchez showed Ryan at practice yesterday that he was ready to go, despite the torn cartilage in his throwing shoulder. The Jets need this win so they can make next Sunday, a home game against Buffalo, basically a bye week heading into the postseason. Don’t underestimate the importance of that.